TYPHOON ZEB STRIKES; 1,000 FLEE HOMES

Typhoon Zeb hit southwestern Japan on Saturday, drenching the area with heavy rain, interrupting travel and forcing more than 1,000 people to flee their homes. Four people were missing.

The storm, which killed at least 74 people in the Philippines and 18 in Taiwan, made landfall near the city of Makurazaki in Kagoshima Prefecture, 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

With maximum sustained winds of 56 miles per hour, the typhoon was moving across western Japan near Miyazaki, 560 miles southwest of Tokyo.

Typhoon Zeb was expected to enter the Sea of Japan before hitting northern Japan, the agency said.

Two men were missing on the southern island of Okinawa after they went to the beach to watch the roaring waves brought on by the storm, a local police said.

Two others were missing in a mudslide on the southwestern island of Shikoku, national broadcaster NHK reported.